06 ignition failure

[dcarver]

That reminds me.. I wonder what WarChild heard back from Cypress about my ignition failure? WC, you out there buddy?

I did talk to one contact, who indicated the problems aren't with the switches (though obviously, there can be a "one-off" on any assembly-line component. Maybe this was the case with cota95; maybe not.).

Rather, he said the problem is one that we have already diagnosed in that earlier thread: the wire-harness leading to the ignition switch is frequently stretched waaaaaay too tight, and can easily chaff against an adjacent steel member (nose sub-frame, IIRC) until the hot lead shorts out against the grounded frame. When that occurs, the big 30-amp Main Fuse says "adiós, muchachos", and there you are, left stranded on the side of the road..... :blink:

In my case the wire simply pulled out of the ignition block. In any case, all gen II owners should check for tightness.. Tx WC.

 

[user 213]

I'm going to take the new ignition set to a locksmith when it comes in. Yamaha does not offer complete lock sets <_<

If you decide that you need to have one key instead of two, I offer to you that the bag locks are much simplier than the ignition switch is. I've had ignition switches destroyed by locksmiths in the process of attempting to key or re-key them, (good locksmiths too). Save yourself extra cost and potential problems and have the bag locks keyed to the new ignition, not the other way around.

The bag locks are easy to remove, though you will need a T-10 Security Torx bit to remove the screws. When re-installing, use locktite, but be extra careful to only get it on the screws. Loctite eats plastic and will erode it like acid if you get it on the plastic. W/o the loctite, the screws do come loose over time. Lots of reports of that.

 

[cota95]

I'm going to take the new ignition set to a locksmith when it comes in. Yamaha does not offer complete lock sets <_<

If you decide that you need to have one key instead of two, I offer to you that the bag locks are much simplier than the ignition switch is. I've had ignition switches destroyed by locksmiths in the process of attempting to key or re-key them, (good locksmiths too). Save yourself extra cost and potential problems and have the bag locks keyed to the new ignition, not the other way around.

The bag locks are easy to remove, though you will need a T-10 Security Torx bit to remove the screws. When re-installing, use locktite, but be extra careful to only get it on the screws. Loctite eats plastic and will erode it like acid if you get it on the plastic. W/o the loctite, the screws do come loose over time. Lots of reports of that.

After reading this and other posts, I'm probably going to stay with two keys as it seems like a PIA to change the ignition and you still have the gas tank to change also.

 

[Gadi]

That reminds me.. I wonder what WarChild heard back from Cypress about my ignition failure? WC, you out there buddy?

I did talk to one contact, who indicated the problems aren't with the switches (though obviously, there can be a "one-off" on any assembly-line component. Maybe this was the case with cota95; maybe not.).

Rather, he said the problem is one that we have already diagnosed in that earlier thread: the wire-harness leading to the ignition switch is frequently stretched waaaaaay too tight, and can easily chaff against an adjacent steel member (nose sub-frame, IIRC) until the hot lead shorts out against the grounded frame. When that occurs, the big 30-amp Main Fuse says "adiós, muchachos", and there you are, left stranded on the side of the road..... :blink:

In my case fuses were all checked and metered and they were ok.

4th failure confirmed.

Ignition wires pulled out from switch, This is on a Canadian bike

 

[JohnB]

I'm glad I read these posts early and cut the zip ties on my '06. The harness going into the switch was very tight.

 

[cota95]

That reminds me.. I wonder what WarChild heard back from Cypress about my ignition failure? WC, you out there buddy?

I did talk to one contact, who indicated the problems aren't with the switches (though obviously, there can be a "one-off" on any assembly-line component. Maybe this was the case with cota95; maybe not.).

Rather, he said the problem is one that we have already diagnosed in that earlier thread: the wire-harness leading to the ignition switch is frequently stretched waaaaaay too tight, and can easily chaff against an adjacent steel member (nose sub-frame, IIRC) until the hot lead shorts out against the grounded frame. When that occurs, the big 30-amp Main Fuse says "adiós, muchachos", and there you are, left stranded on the side of the road..... :blink:

In my case fuses were all checked and metered and they were ok.

4th failure confirmed.

Ignition wires pulled out from switch, This is on a Canadian bike

How soon before they will have a replacement on the switch? Canadian ignition/keys different from US? Mine is due in Friday (2 weeks on order) but I'm not holding my breath. Hope it didn't leave you on the side of the road.

 

[Gadi]

That reminds me.. I wonder what WarChild heard back from Cypress about my ignition failure? WC, you out there buddy?

I did talk to one contact, who indicated the problems aren't with the switches (though obviously, there can be a "one-off" on any assembly-line component. Maybe this was the case with cota95; maybe not.).

Rather, he said the problem is one that we have already diagnosed in that earlier thread: the wire-harness leading to the ignition switch is frequently stretched waaaaaay too tight, and can easily chaff against an adjacent steel member (nose sub-frame, IIRC) until the hot lead shorts out against the grounded frame. When that occurs, the big 30-amp Main Fuse says "adiós, muchachos", and there you are, left stranded on the side of the road..... :blink:

In my case fuses were all checked and metered and they were ok.

4th failure confirmed.

Ignition wires pulled out from switch, This is on a Canadian bike

How soon before they will have a replacement on the switch? Canadian ignition/keys different from US? Mine is due in Friday (2 weeks on order) but I'm not holding my breath. Hope it didn't leave you on the side of the road.

[SIZE=12pt]Dealer gave me 2 options[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]1. he could cold solder an extention wire and use existing switch and keys or 2. Yamaha will exchange with new switch, ignition keys only and new wiring harness-seems that Yamaha here in Canada know there is a manufaturing defect and the new harnes is longer. What would you suggest. splice in a new piece and have one set of keys or go with a new assembly. Canadian bikes have an imobilizer and chip in the keys. Will take another 4 days to get the assembly[/SIZE]Gadi

 

[cota95]

How soon before they will have a replacement on the switch? Canadian ignition/keys different from US? Mine is due in Friday (2 weeks on order) but I'm not holding my breath. Hope it didn't leave you on the side of the road.

[SIZE=12pt]Dealer gave me 2 options[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]1. he could cold solder an extention wire and use existing switch and keys or 2. Yamaha will exchange with new switch, ignition keys only and new wiring harness-seems that Yamaha here in Canada know there is a manufaturing defect and the new harnes is longer. What would you suggest. splice in a new piece and have one set of keys or go with a new assembly. Canadian bikes have an imobilizer and chip in the keys. Will take another 4 days to get the assembly[/SIZE]Gadi

Tough call but I would go with the new switch and harness. It's not fun to get stuck on the side of the road if the fixed switch fails far from home. Don't ask me how I know

 

[Gadi]

Yes thanks I am going to insist on a new assembly with all the cylinders swapped out. After all this is a manufacturing defect and the bike is under warrenty. In the mean time I asked the dealer to solder in the piece so at least it is rideable until Yamaha Canada head office straighten out all the paper work. Why should I suffer with all their red tape.

Gadi

 

[cota95]

Yes thanks I am going to insist on a new assembly with all the cylinders swapped out. After all this is a manufacturing defect and the bike is under warrenty. In the mean time I asked the dealer to solder in the piece so at least it is rideable until Yamaha Canada head office straighten out all the paper work. Why should I suffer with all their red tape.Gadi

I don't think that they will swap out the cylinders (according to my dealer) which means that you will have two sets of keys. If you learn diffent, please get back to me.

 

[Gadi]

Cota:

Yes I believe the standard line is that they will only change what is broken. However I am pushing them hard as I have only had the bike for about 8 weeks. So they are now having a pow wow as I am gradually making more noise and this incident is slowly being kicked up the food chain. Although there was no accident during the loss of power incident. This could have potentially been a disaster. Can you imagine powering up to overtake a vehicle or going up an incline on a twisty blind curve. Heaven help them if this defect causes a personal injury to someone. They should have an immediate recall on the 2006 models.

Gadi

 

[dcarver]

Yes thanks I am going to insist on a new assembly with all the cylinders swapped out. After all this is a manufacturing defect and the bike is under warrenty. In the mean time I asked the dealer to solder in the piece so at least it is rideable until Yamaha Canada head office straighten out all the paper work. Why should I suffer with all their red tape.Gadi

I don't think that they will swap out the cylinders (according to my dealer) which means that you will have two sets of keys. If you learn diffent, please get back to me.

Incorrect. Hold your ground and insist they swap the cylinder out. Yamaha graciously payed for a local locksmith to perform the chore, as have other fjr pilots with failed ignition switches. In my case, the time delay was in the locksmith to perform his duties and the communication aspect between the dealer and the locksmith kinda sucked too.

Still, if you want one key for everything, Yamaha will pay for it. It's your decision.

 

[Indian Scout]

That reminds me.. I wonder what WarChild heard back from Cypress about my ignition failure? WC, you out there buddy?

I did talk to one contact, who indicated the problems aren't with the switches (though obviously, there can be a "one-off" on any assembly-line component. Maybe this was the case with cota95; maybe not.).

Rather, he said the problem is one that we have already diagnosed in that earlier thread: the wire-harness leading to the ignition switch is frequently stretched waaaaaay too tight, and can easily chaff against an adjacent steel member (nose sub-frame, IIRC) until the hot lead shorts out against the grounded frame. When that occurs, the big 30-amp Main Fuse says "adiós, muchachos", and there you are, left stranded on the side of the road..... :blink:

Add me to the list either number 4 or 5 which ever.

While on the way home from Washington DC the other day, I pulled into a gas station outside Phoenix AZ turned the key off on my 07A model. When I finished filling the gas tank and turned the key on, nothing lit up, no horn, guages or turn signals and of course no starter.

After checking all the battery connections and fuses I called a tow truck and while waiting for the truck I turned the key on and off about 50 times. About the 51st time I turned the key on it made connection and the gauges all came on. So I rode the rest of the way home to So Cal by using nothing but the kill switch leaving the key on.

Since I got home 5 days ago the switch has worked fine, no failures. Now I'm afraid to go very far for fear it will happen again and I won't be able to get it going. To take it in to the dealer would be a waist of time at this point.

 

[cota95]

That reminds me.. I wonder what WarChild heard back from Cypress about my ignition failure? WC, you out there buddy?

I did talk to one contact, who indicated the problems aren't with the switches (though obviously, there can be a "one-off" on any assembly-line component. Maybe this was the case with cota95; maybe not.).

Rather, he said the problem is one that we have already diagnosed in that earlier thread: the wire-harness leading to the ignition switch is frequently stretched waaaaaay too tight, and can easily chaff against an adjacent steel member (nose sub-frame, IIRC) until the hot lead shorts out against the grounded frame. When that occurs, the big 30-amp Main Fuse says "adiós, muchachos", and there you are, left stranded on the side of the road..... :blink:

Add me to the list either number 4 or 5 which ever.

While on the way home from Washington DC the other day, I pulled into a gas station outside Phoenix AZ turned the key off on my 07A model. When I finished filling the gas tank and turned the key on, nothing lit up, no horn, guages or turn signals and of course no starter.

After checking all the battery connections and fuses I called a tow truck and while waiting for the truck I turned the key on and off about 50 times. About the 51st time I turned the key on it made connection and the gauges all came on. So I rode the rest of the way home to So Cal by using nothing but the kill switch leaving the key on.

Since I got home 5 days ago the switch has worked fine, no failures. Now I'm afraid to go very far for fear it will happen again and I won't be able to get it going. To take it in to the dealer would be a waist of time at this point.

It may not be waste of time because I think that Yamaha now knows that they have a switch problem. To the best of my knowledge, my failure was not from too tight wires but a failure inside the switch itself, kind of what you had. My switch was due in last Friday and it still has not arrived. I think this indicates that a lot of switches are being replaced (more than the 5 listed here) and they have a system wide shortage.

 

[Gadi]

Ditto that here, I had the dealer solder it up while we are still waiting for a new switch. So at least I could use the bike. sad comment on Yamaha and their attitude about this situation

 

[clutchless1]

After reading some of the problems others have had with their ignition switches and wires going to them being too tight I immediately went out and cut every tie wrap going down the wiring harness in front of the bike. I was very lucky, I got your info when the bike had only 200 miles on it, so I got it very early. I went back and put the ties back where they belonged but I didn't squeese the ever lovin **** out of the harness when I did so.

I am just about to add an ignition switch to my breakdown bag, even though I have YES that's no damn good when you're sitting on the side of the road in the middle of no-where! I already have the emergency 50 amp fuse (get these by the truckload at AuoZone) the slime tire compressor, and some hand tools.

If you think Yamaha is bad? I worked for the largest American builder of motorcycles, these guys wouldn't admit they had a problem if it bit them in the rear end. In the end they still have to admit they do indeed have problems just like everyone else does, and they have to fix these problems, it's not their best interest to ignore the people who made them what they are. I also believe it's not in Yamaha's best interest to ignore this for too long, I'm sure they won't, we aren't lambs being led to the slaughter. They are most likely waiting to see if it is the ignition switch by itself, or was this caused by the wiring being pulled too tight, or some other problem? Problems like this can never be fixed fast enough for everyone involved, but remember that to fix this problem they must first find the real problem. Can you imagine how pissed we'd all be if Yamaha did a recall on the ignition switch only to find this isn't the problem? Now you lost ride time, and you're bike really isn't fixed? Now imagine having to take your bike back to the dealership to fix the real problem, we'd not only be totally pissed, we'd think these engineers are a bunch of idiots and couldn't troubleshoot a splinter in someone's hand. It's a pain in the ***, but things like this do take time to find, all of the data needs to come in along with part failure numbers before this can be accurately diagnosed and repaired. And yes, I own a 2006 AE Model, so I can't wait for mine to quit. But if it does shut down, I know Yamaha is working on the problem, I just hope and pray no-one gets injured or killed because of being put in harm's way by total ignition failure. This is why I'm sure they are and will get to the bottom or these failures.

I think the biggest problem Yamaha has is it's low resale value.........but that's problem for another day.

Be Safe,

clutchless1

 

[SkooterG]

Add me to the list either number 4 or 5 which ever.
While on the way home from Washington DC the other day, I pulled into a gas station outside Phoenix AZ turned the key off on my 07A model. When I finished filling the gas tank and turned the key on, nothing lit up, no horn, guages or turn signals and of course no starter.

After checking all the battery connections and fuses I called a tow truck and while waiting for the truck I turned the key on and off about 50 times. About the 51st time I turned the key on it made connection and the gauges all came on. So I rode the rest of the way home to So Cal by using nothing but the kill switch leaving the key on.

Since I got home 5 days ago the switch has worked fine, no failures. Now I'm afraid to go very far for fear it will happen again and I won't be able to get it going. To take it in to the dealer would be a waist of time at this point.

I wouldn't be 'adding yourself to the list' quite yet. You could very possibly just experienced a one-off anomaly. The sky is not falling yet!

I have experienced what you describe above twice on my 04 FJR. First time it occurred around 60,000 miles, and the second time at about 83,000 miles on the morning of the start of a 5 day rally! Both times, all fuses and connections were good. It took cycling the ignition switch on/off many, many times and then all of sudden, Voila!, everything was ok. I have guessed that it was just a dirt problem inside the switch keeping contact from being made. Regardless, I have 105,000 miles on my FJR now and have had no other problems with my stock ignition switch besides the two I have mentioned.

After the first incident, I was going to get a spare switch and possibly replace the original, or just keep it as a spare, but it is a major PITA to replace the switch. Some difficult drilling of some security bolts is required, so it's not a side of the road repair/swap-out.

So don't stress too much. While I prefer those incidents had not occurred, in both instances, my FJR eventually started with no tools necessary, and for me twice in 105,000 miles just ain't that bad. After the first time, my fears that the ignition switch was about to go have turned out to be unfounded.

 

[dcarver]

Add me to the list either number 4 or 5 which ever.
While on the way home from Washington DC the other day, I pulled into a gas station outside Phoenix AZ turned the key off on my 07A model. When I finished filling the gas tank and turned the key on, nothing lit up, no horn, guages or turn signals and of course no starter.

After checking all the battery connections and fuses I called a tow truck and while waiting for the truck I turned the key on and off about 50 times. About the 51st time I turned the key on it made connection and the gauges all came on. So I rode the rest of the way home to So Cal by using nothing but the kill switch leaving the key on.

Since I got home 5 days ago the switch has worked fine, no failures. Now I'm afraid to go very far for fear it will happen again and I won't be able to get it going. To take it in to the dealer would be a waist of time at this point.

I wouldn't be 'adding yourself to the list' quite yet. You could very possibly just experienced a one-off anomaly. The sky is not falling yet!

I have experienced what you describe above twice on my 04 FJR. First time it occurred around 60,000 miles, and the second time at about 83,000 miles on the morning of the start of a 5 day rally! Both times, all fuses and connections were good. It took cycling the ignition switch on/off many, many times and then all of sudden, Voila!, everything was ok. I have guessed that it was just a dirt problem inside the switch keeping contact from being made. Regardless, I have 105,000 miles on my FJR now and have had no other problems with my stock ignition switch besides the two I have mentioned.

After the first incident, I was going to get a spare switch and possibly replace the original, or just keep it as a spare, but it is a major PITA to replace the switch. Some difficult drilling of some security bolts is required, so it's not a side of the road repair/swap-out.

So don't stress too much. While I prefer those incidents had not occurred, in both instances, my FJR eventually started with no tools necessary, and for me twice in 105,000 miles just ain't that bad. After the first time, my fears that the ignition switch was about to go have turned out to be unfounded.

A simpler insurance plan would be to simply carry a small double pole double throw switch and some ty-raps. If the Iggie switch fails, simply cut the 4 wires and splice the switch in.

 

[cota95]

That reminds me.. I wonder what WarChild heard back from Cypress about my ignition failure? WC, you out there buddy?

I did talk to one contact, who indicated the problems aren't with the switches (though obviously, there can be a "one-off" on any assembly-line component. Maybe this was the case with cota95; maybe not.).

Rather, he said the problem is one that we have already diagnosed in that earlier thread: the wire-harness leading to the ignition switch is frequently stretched waaaaaay too tight, and can easily chaff against an adjacent steel member (nose sub-frame, IIRC) until the hot lead shorts out against the grounded frame. When that occurs, the big 30-amp Main Fuse says "adiós, muchachos", and there you are, left stranded on the side of the road..... :blink:

Add me to the list either number 4 or 5 which ever.

While on the way home from Washington DC the other day, I pulled into a gas station outside Phoenix AZ turned the key off on my 07A model. When I finished filling the gas tank and turned the key on, nothing lit up, no horn, guages or turn signals and of course no starter.

After checking all the battery connections and fuses I called a tow truck and while waiting for the truck I turned the key on and off about 50 times. About the 51st time I turned the key on it made connection and the gauges all came on. So I rode the rest of the way home to So Cal by using nothing but the kill switch leaving the key on.

Since I got home 5 days ago the switch has worked fine, no failures. Now I'm afraid to go very far for fear it will happen again and I won't be able to get it going. To take it in to the dealer would be a waist of time at this point.

It may not be waste of time because I think that Yamaha now knows that they have a switch problem. To the best of my knowledge, my failure was not from too tight wires but a failure inside the switch itself, kind of what you had. My switch was due in last Friday and it still has not arrived. I think this indicates that a lot of switches are being replaced (more than the 5 listed here) and they have a system wide shortage.

After a little bit of proding, Yamaha has agreed to re-key the new ignition switch, which just came in, to my old key and to pickup the tab for the temp repairs that I had done in NC to get home to RI and to pay the towing bill ($265). I'm happy that they stepped up and did the right thing.

 

[SkooterG]

A simpler insurance plan would be to simply carry a small double pole double throw switch and some ty-raps. If the Iggie switch fails, simply cut the 4 wires and splice the switch in.

What an excellent solution!

You should make me up an emergency ignition bypass kit pronto and send it off right away.